Slapstick Festival is gearing up to mark its 20th birthday this month, with comedy heroes from Martin Freeman to Meera Syal, and Stephen K. Amos to Harry Enfield taking to the stage to reflect and celebrate some of the industry’s funniest people. Oh, and Ben Elton’s in town too, collecting the Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend award for his, well, legendary contribution to screen and stage (we caught up with him to find out more…)
The UK’s biggest festival of screen comedy is back. And it’s celebrating a pretty impressive two-decade run in February. Among the myriad of revered comic icons flocking to the city for Slapstick to divulge their deepest delights when it comes to all things funny is comedian, actor, author, playwright, lyricist and director Ben Elton – who is this year’s winner of the Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend Award.
He first achieved widespread fame for the left-leaning satirical rants he delivered as the host of Channel 4’s Saturday Live. But his career as a scriptwriter began in 1980 and went on to give him writing credits and cameo roles in a wide array of TV comedy classics, among them The Young Ones, the showbiz spoof Filthy Rich & Catflap, some of the Blackadder series and Upstart Crow, and to collaborations with stars such as French & Saunders, Rik Mayall, Ade Edmondson, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry and Rowan Atkinson.
Along the way, he has also written over a dozen novels and worked on musicals, including Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Beautiful Game, and on the smash hit jukebox musical built around Queen songs, We Will Rock You. With onscreen extracts, Ben will be talking with Last Leg presenter and comedian Adam Hills on Sunday 16 February at Bristol Old Vic (8.30pm) about highlights of his career prior to receiving a personalised Morph, conferring on him Aardman Slapstick Comedy Legend status.
“What an amazing honour to be joining such an incredible pantheon of Aardman/Slapstick Legends!”, Ben said of his latest accolade. “I would have liked to have pulled off a perfect pratfall to celebrate, but at 65 I’m worried I’d do my back in. I may slap a custard pie in my face though, because I am truly thrilled and grateful.”
The Bristol Magazine couldn’t wait until his stage appearance to find out a little more about Ben’s upcoming celebration, and in his own words to us, a “44 years and counting” contribution to the world of comedy. When we asked how he felt about being crowned a comedy legend, he replied: “I’m genuinely thrilled; this award comes from people who love and honour comedy, and so clearly it’s very flattering they’ve picked me.”
Legendary status
Looking back over his long and varied career, we were curious to know if there a particular project or piece of work Ben wished he could revisit, rework or expand on if given the chance? “I wish the BBC had given us a fourth series of Upstart Crow,” he tells us. “I had it all planned with the late plays and it would have completed the canon. But hey, I can’t complain, they have limited resources and three series was a pretty good run.”
Slapstick Comedy Festival is also presenting two events centred around his collaborators on The Young Ones – one for the late comedy genius Rik Mayall, and Nigel Planer (AKA Neil the pacifist hippy) is also appearing in That’s Really Heavy Man in conversation with Robin Ince. Rik has clearly left a mark on the comedy world (Ben says of his enduring influence: “Look, I’m not going to try and gathrr together a string of superlatives. People can write their own. Rik was my friend and one of the principle collaborators in my career. He was a brilliant and unique original and I miss him very much.”). And The Young Ones continues to draw new generations of fans, though Ben acknowledges “No TV will ever resonate in the same way as they did in the pre internet days. Popularity used to be universal now it’s tribal.”
Now that Ben is joining the likes of Robert Lindsay, French & Saunders, June Whitfield and Sir Ken Dodd OBE as an official Comedy Legend, we were keen to know who his own legends are. “My heroes are those of my youth, I think that’s true for most people,” he says. “Morecambe and Wise, The Pythons, Galton and Simpson. I think my favourite comedy film is Spinal Tap. Historically Chaplin. In the last 20 years, Curb Your Enthusiasm. And, of course, Woody Allen is a comic genius.”
Having performed in our city many times over the years, and been co-writer (plus occasional actor) in cult classic show The Young Ones, which was partly filmed in Bristol, does Ben like it here? “I do love the history and love to visit the SS Great Britain and walk around the docks. I guess history and culture combined with the toppling of the Colston Statue [in 2020], so Bristol’s still at the cutting edge of both!”
Also on the bill….
Besides Ben reflecting on his multi-decade comedy, multiple award-winning actor Martin Freeman is to host the gala evening of silent film comedies and live music at Bristol Beacon, which will be the Valentine’s Day centrepiece of the festival. The Hot Fuzz, The Hobbit, and The Office star will introduce three classic silent comedies, each accompanied live and with keyboard legend Rick Wakeman among the instrumentalists.
Elsewhere, in what will be a rare live stage appearance, Harry Enfield will be at the Bristol Old Vic on Sunday 16 February (6pm start) to share with fellow comic Robin Ince his favourite film and TV comedy moments and their influence on the many memorable characters he has created.
Other highlights from the strong 2025 programme that you won’t want to miss include Rick Wakeman hosting a salute to his great friend Ian Lavender and Ian’s work as a cast member of Dad’s Army; Samira Ahmed talking with Graeme Garden about the women who worked with The Goodies; Stephen K. Amos, sharing his comedy heroes and introducing Mel Brooks’s Blazing Saddles as his favourite film; Nigel Planer saluting his late, great, co-star Rik Mayall; Lucy Porter opening a three-film look at 1920s silents poking fun at Soviet politics; Adam Hills trading stories with Mike ‘McGear’ McCartney about the showbiz moments Mike has captured on film thanks to his lifelong passion for photography; Meera Syal, Sanjeev Bhaskar and Anil Gupta reuniting to look back at the impact of their ground-breaking comedy series Goodness Gracious Me, and consider its legacy; and Peter Lord, Aardman co-founder, introducing a Wallace & Gromit bill that will include a big screen showing of the newest in the series: Vengeance Most Fowl.
Slapstick takes place across some of Bristol’s most iconic cultural venues from 12-16 February. For more information and tickets, visit slapstick.org.uk
